LAR201 | Administrative and Regulatory Laws

The central purpose of administrative law is to promote accountable administration. For example, administrative bodies should act efficiently and honestly to promote the public good: they should listen to individuals likely to be affected by their decisions, taking their views into account; and they should operate in a fair, transparent, and unbiased fashion, seeking always to serve the public interest while, at the same time respecting the rights of the individuals. The need to make the administration accountable arises from the fact the no modern state can function effectively without conferring discretionary powers to the administration and legal mechanisms are required to be in place to ensure that administrative description does not get abused. Therefore, administrative law is not about specializing in any one area of law; it is about knowing that whenever discretion gets conferred on the administrative authority and consequently the executive power gets exercised, it passes the muster of legality and constitutional propriety. That is why Prof. Baxi also says that it is not possible to specialize in any area of law without understanding administrative law. It is well known that in modern democratic states administrative powers are not the only powers exercised by the executive. The executive also legislates and adjudicates. Law has to ensure that this compulsion of modern governance does not damage the sanctity of separation of powers. Hence, this course on administrative law will also involve discussions on those principles of law which regulate both the conferment and exercise of such powers by administration.